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Chapter 114 : Stronger Together
*Lena*
“We're going home," Mom said as she riffled through the dresser in her bedroom at the castle in Winter Forest, her eyes wide, and a distant expression etched into her brow. I turned to the doorway as Maeve ran past in a blur of copper blonde hair, her footsteps retreating down the hallway.
It had been a few hours since we'd received word about what had happened in Breles. I should have felt stunned by the knowledge, but only a feeling of dread had settled in my stomach. I'd known this was coming. We all had. We'd all prepared for the worst, but it hadn't made the news any easier to swallow.
“Where's Dad?" I asked, my throat tightening around the words. Mom shook her head, her eyes misting with tears for a moment before she cleared her throat.
“I don't know," she said, and that was all she could manage to say. She cleared her throat, sniffing as she folded a sweater and tucked it into her suitcase. “We need to go back and rule, and prepare for… prepare for whatever is coming next."
This morning I'd been at my ultrasound appointment. By nightfall, we were in a full state of panic as news began to pour in from the west about what had happened in Breles. Now, we were preparing to go home… home–to Mirage, back to the Castle Drogomor where I'd been born and raised. I hadn't been home since the middle of summer at least.
It wouldn't be a happy homecoming. I sucked in my breath at the thought of walking through those halls while Dad was away at war, unreachable, if he was even… Goddess, I couldn't even say it.
Breles was gone. Just gone. Nothing left but rubble and ash. Those allied forces that had been able to escape when the vampire army pushed into
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the city had fled to the port.
The port was all that was left. Boats full of warriors were headed east to defend the Isles and Valoria in the event the vampires were able to cross the sea.
“Xander," I whispered under my breath, my heart tying into a knot as I turned from where my mother was packing her suitcase to the doorway. I began to walk out of the room, moving like a ghost as my mind reeled. I had to get to him. I had to find him. I couldn't just go home, not now. I had to close that portal.
This was my fault. That portal I'd opened and failed to close was allowing these creatures to enter our realm in unending droves and leave nothing but death and destruction in their wake.
“Where are you going?" Mom asked, and I turned around, tearfully looking toward her as I opened my mouth to tell her that I was sorry, that I'd see her again, hopefully soon. “No," she said firmly as if reading my mind. “Lena, no–"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“I have to finish this. I should have ended this long ago. I didn't know how, but I do now–"
“Stop," she commanded, and I felt my body go rigid at her tone.
“I have to do this–"
“You were given that book for a reason, Lena," she said as she pressed her weight into the suitcase, zipping it up. “We're meeting with Mara in Mirage–you, me, Clare, and Maeve. Your grandma too, if she can spare the time with everything else going on. We're going to figure this out!"
“It's too late for that!" I snapped, tears rolling down my cheeks. “We're too late. Whatever magic we were supposed to use, whatever we were supposed to uncover… it's too late. This only ends if… if I bring down their realm."
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Mom straightened up slowly, her eyes holding my gaze with an intensity that almost brought me to my knees.
“I have to take their realm apart. I know I can. I have to at least try."
“No–"
“This is who I am!" I cried, cutting her off before she could protest. “I never wanted this. I tried to hide from what and who I was, and look at what I've done, Mom. Look at what I've caused–"
“You didn't do this–"
“But I did!" I felt my heart shattering into pieces as I pleaded for her to understand. “I made it to their realm. I had a chance to kill the Vampire King. I failed because I didn't know how to use my powers. I didn't train them like I should have. I didn't let any of you help me figure out who I was and what I could do. The blood of those warriors is on my hands, Mom. I could've stopped this. I could've stopped this from the beginning!"
She just stared at me, shaking her head.
“This is the reason I was born. I'm meant to be the protector of our realm. I need to be that person now." I needed to save our people, all of them, and I had two options.
I could go through the portal in the old temple, back to Andromeda's lands. From there, I could access the realm of the vampires. It was risky, and I didn't know for sure if the portal to Andromeda's coven even worked that way, or if it was only an exit instead of a revolving door.
My second option was more difficult, but was the most likely to work.
I stepped backward through the doorway. She straightened up, staring wide eyed at me.
“Don't," she whispered with force. “Lena–"
I had to go to the garden realm I'd created as a child, the same one I'd inadvertently trapped Xander in several months ago now. He'd told me about the… infection, in my garden realm. Blood root had seeped through the barriers of the realms like the Vampire King had been looking for me there. The injuries Jen had given me during the attack that left me fevered and forever scarred had linked me and my powers to the vampire realm, maybe forever.
The king would find me here. He'd find Winter Forest, and my family. It was only a matter of time.
And then there was Xander, who had also been injured by Jen and given blood root to aid in his recovery. How long would it be until the vampire king found Egoren and laid waste to Xander's people–the very people I would one day call my own?
While training with my grandma, I'd perfected opening and closing portals of my creation. I could go to my garden realm, and then go through the same portal Xander had fallen through when he'd come upon Henry and taken shelter in his cave. From there, I'd go to the king. I knew his castle would be nearby. I'd seen the pointed peaks when we'd escaped the castle the day Xander and Oliver came to my rescue after my plan to kill the king had failed. I knew how to get back there, which routes to follow.
I'd kill the king. I'd annihilate his armies. I'd seal the portal. Then, I'd tear down their realm.
Mom was waiting for me to do or say something. We were just looking at each other now, neither of us speaking as I decided what route to take to get back to the realm of the vampires.
Down the hallway, I heard a shocked gasp, then muffled anguish. Mom rushed out into the hallway as I turned my head in the direction the voices were coming from, several of them.
Maeve's voice cut through the air, frantic and pleading as Grandpa's stern response followed.
“What's going on?" Mom asked beneath her breath, more to herself than to me. She rushed past me down the corridor and out onto the landing, leaning over the railing to look down into the foyer.
I followed, my fingertips prickling with adrenaline as I caught up to her. Maeve was pacing back and forth below us, pointing an accusatory finger at Grandpa.
“I'm going there now," she ground out, her lips pulled back in a snarl. “I am the Luna of Poldesse–"
“You're also my daughter," Grandpa ground out. “And I'm not allowing you to barrel into a warzone unaccompanied."
“Maeve–" Grandma tried to cut in, but Maeve was red with fury as she walked between her parents and stormed outside, not bothering to put a coat on. Mom hurried down the stairs, looking toward my grandparents for an explanation for Maeve's outburst. Grandma only shook her head, swallowing hard as she looked down at her feet.
“What happened?" I asked as I walked down the stairs.
“Oliver is missing. Again," Grandpa deadpanned with a shrug. “He stole a map from your uncle Troy and left on foot headed toward the front lines."
“Where was he going?" I asked with an arch of my brow. I had a feeling I knew exactly where he was going. Gooseflesh prickled over my arms as I looked toward the front door. If Maeve was going to Breles… maybe I wouldn't need to jump through endless hoops to get back to the vampire realm. I could go straight to the source, and end things there, in Crimson Creek.
I glanced at Mom before sprinting toward the door, throwing it open wide as I hurried down the steps after Maeve. I screamed her name, and she came to a halt along the trail leading toward the village.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Go back inside, Lena."
“I'm going with you," I replied, a little breathless. Maeve began to shake her head, but then stopped, looking me up and down. “I can fight. I can still use my powers."
“You're pregnant, Lena."
“So? You were pregnant when you went on that big adventure to save the world from Tasia–so was Mom, with me!"
She exhaled, looking up at the castle, where the front door was open and the darkened figures of my mom and grandparents stood in the doorway. Maeve's eyes glimmered for a moment, her initial panic fading and then ceasing altogether.
“Go get your mom and tell her we're leaving now. All of us. We need to go get Clare, and then we're going to Mirage to fetch Mara. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right. And we're going to do it right away."
I fought the urge to grin like a little girl and gave her a tight nod before turning around and walking briskly back toward the castle.
“We need to go to Mirage. We can't wait," I said, panting a bit as I grabbed the railing leading up the steps to the front door. “You," I said, directing my voice toward Mom, “and you too, Grandma."
“What about me?" Grandpa said, and I turned my gaze to his, noticing the playful gleam flutter across his face.
“This is for witches only, Ethan," Grandma said as she squeezed his hand.
“So you admit it after all these years?" His voice drifted away as Grandma and Grandpa turned into the house, walking away together. Mom looked down at me from her spot on the porch, her eyes glistening in the porchlight.
“Mom," I began, but she only shook her head.
“Let us help you do this. That's all I ask. That's all I've been asking, all your life. You were never meant to face your powers alone."
“I'm sorry," I whispered. “I will. I'll… I don't want to put any of you at risk. I don't want to hurt you again."
“Lena," she breathed, extending a hand to me. I heard Maeve's crunching footsteps behind me as she came back to the castle, mumbling something about calling for someone to ready a plane to take us to Valoria. “Let's finish packing," Mom said quietly, eyeing Maeve as she passed us.
I walked back into the castle behind them and made for the stairs. I heard Grandpa in the sitting room off the foyer, talking on the phone to what must have been a pilot as he explained what needed to happen. Grandma disappeared into the library, and Mom and Maeve walked a few paces behind me as I walked up the stairs toward my room.
“What were you going to do, Maeve?" Mom asked, her voice lifting playfully. “Swim all the way to Breles?"
Maeve grunted, laughing under her breath. Mom made a little noise in her throat as I turned my head to glance at them, noticing Maeve nudging her with her elbow.
I parted with them on the landing and walked to my room. I didn't have much to pack, not at all. All of the clothes I'd been wearing had been bought in Winter Forest after we'd arrived through the portal.
I was closer than I'd been in weeks to seeing Xander again.
There was just one more thing to do, and now, I didn't have to do it alone.
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